Welcome to America Comes Alive!, a site I created to share little-known stories of America's past. These stories are about Americans - people just like you - who have made a difference and changed the course of history. Look around the site and find what inspires you. Kate Kelly

Beetle Bailey, Still Going Strong

The longevity and continuing appeal of Beetle Bailey was apparent this fall (2011) in Manhattan where Bloomingdale’s flagship store devoted Third Avenue windows and floor space to a multi-piece clothing line, designed by Darren Romanelli, featuring two military icons from the comic strips: Beetle Bailey and Popeye. While some items, like t-shirts, featured the characters front and center, others used graphics from the comic strips in the lining of the clothing.

Beetle Bailey, created by Mort Walker (1922- ), first appeared 62 years ago. It is among the oldest comic strips still being produced by the original creator. Walker who also draws other strips, has had assistance from other cartoonists, including his sons Neal, Brian and Greg. Greg is currently credited on the strip.

In the Beginning

Mort Walker began sending out cartoons as a young teenager, and his first published cartoon appeared when he was only 15. After high school, he took a staff job at Hallmark Cards (based in Kansas City, Missouri) but in 1943 he was drafted. During his military service, Walker kept a diary in which he drew sketches of many of the soldiers with whom he served, and this was to prove useful later on.

After the war, he returned home to attend University of Missouri journalism school, moving to New York City upon completion. Walker began selling to national magazines including the Saturday Evening Post, where his editor encouraged him to draw “what he knew” and suggested cartoons based on his college experiences. Walker did so and pitched the idea for a strip about frat boy Beetle Bailey to King Features Syndicate. The strip debuted in 1950 in a dozen newspapers.

The strip was solid with its first clients, but the syndicate noted that there were no new takers for a strip about college life. The Korean War was heating up, and Walker’s editor said, “Put Beetle in the Army.” Beetle was drafted, and suddenly the subscribing newspapers increased. Beetle had become someone to whom more readers could relate.

The Premise of the Strip

Beetle Bailey is stationed at Camp Swampy where he works hard at doing as little as possible; he is frequently caught napping by readers as well as his supervising officer, Sergeant Snorkel. Snorkel is often accompanied by his uniformed dog, Otto, who also takes a dim view of Beetle.

In addition to Sarge, Beetle Bailey has a large recurring cast, from General Halftrack and his buxom secretary, Miss Buckley, to Cookie, the “chef,” and “Killer,” the good-looking ladies’ man. Lt. Fuzz is the young apple-polisher whom the other infantrymen avoid. Zero is the empty-headed farm boy, and Plato is the resident intellectual. Those who follow the strip know that this brief list only scratches the surface of the character line-up.

During the 62 years the strip has been appearing, Beetle’s eyes have never been shown. If he leaves the base and his military cap behind, he is wearing a pork pie hat that covers his forehead and eyes. One early strip of Beetle in college actually includes his eyes, but it was never published in a newspaper. Another strip features Sarge scaring Beetle’s hat off, but his eyes are not revealed as Beetle is wearing sunglasses.

Censorship

While Walker sometimes self-censors, he also has run into censoring from editors upon occasion. At one point, the military newspaper, The Stars and Stripes, felt that the strip encouraged disrespect of officers, so they refused to print it.

Another time a belly button was shown and the strip was pulled from some papers. In yet another instance (2006), Rocky is asked about where he worked when he was a civilian. Rocky notes that he sold used cars. The punch line comes when Beetle asks, “Where did you do that?” Rocky’s original answer: “Across from the parking lot where I stole them.”

After editors complained, the strip was edited to read “Across the street from the junkyard.”

Ironically, censorship tends to boost readership, so Beetle tended to get a bump up when strips were refused.

Success on Many Fronts

The first African-American character to appear did not do so until 1970 when Lt. Jackson Flap entered saying “How come there’s no blacks in this honky outfit? Three southern papers refused to run strips wit Lt. Flap; The Stars and Stripes initially dropped those strips, too (wow–1970), but they soon reinstated it.

Beetle’s success would have been enough for many cartoonists, but Walker was not content with one strip. In 1954 he introduced Hi and Lois, based on Walker’s family life with his seven children in suburban Connecticut. (Lois is actually first introduced through Beetle; she is his sister whom he visits while on furlough.) Boner’s Ark began in 1968 and is a delightful commentary on modern day featuring all types of zoo animals.

Ironically, the laziest character in the history of comics was created by one of the hardest working cartoonists of all times.

Walker was active in the Society of Cartoon Artists and also founded a National Cartoon Museum in Connecticut. The museum has now been absorbed by a Cartoon Library and Collection at Ohio State University in Columbus, giving OSU the largest collection of cartoon art in the world.

While Beetle Bailey is set on a military base, its appeal extends beyond there to anyone who has been “low man on the totem pole.” Incompetent bosses and unreasonable rules of the organization appeal to almost everyone, and as a result, Beetle has become a hero to millions of readers.

How terrific for you! If you want to sell them, then you do want to have a general idea of value. Online htere is a http://www.comicspriceguide.com There is a small subscription fee. If you don’t want to pay it, check the library. They may have advice or perhaps a copy of Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide.

I don’t know which retail comic book stores are the most reputable, but the field is so competitive that any shop that’s been in business for more than a decade almost by definition must be trustworthy.

You might also consider posting in a local neighborhood forum. We have a group of neighbors who will answer anything from where to donate books to who to call for a bad stain on a carpet. These people want to be helpful, and the odds are good that they will know other people interested in comics.